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Prompters to Life

This Sunday, Rev. Donald is at St. Mark’s. Our service will be Morning Prayer, and we will be having a guest preacher, Dennis Maione. Below the picture you will find a brief biography on Dennis. We invite you to come out and hear Dennis speak.

Dennis Maione keeps bumping up against cancer. First diagnosed with a colorectal tumour as a graduate student and young newly-wed, he thought his subsequent victory over the disease would set him up for a straight run at life. A decade later, however, he found out he carried a cancer gene. And a short while after that, fifteen years after his first diagnosis, the entrepreneur and father of three faced a recurrence of colon cancer, the second round exacting a higher toll than the first.

In illness, Dennis wrestled a strong enemy throughout protracted periods of doubt, confusion, and pain, but also with grace, wit, and humour. What I Learned From Cancer is the author’s first memoir and work of creative nonfiction, chronicling cancer, genetics, and medicine, but mostly hope. Insights into the soul of a cancer survivor abound throughout the book’s three parts: first, its compelling and often surprisingly funny narrative; second, its reflective essays, wherein lessons learned are presented as though to the author’s younger self encountering cancer for the first time; and third, its basic introduction to the disease we all hear of so often, structured as conversations with a doctor. The book introduces a rich array of characters: supportive community members, physicians good and bad, and an assortment of villains and heroes, many in the unlikeliest of places.

Dennis Maione fills his days with an eclectic mix of speaking and writing. He is an active advocate on behalf of patients navigating healthcare and sits on many volunteer committees to promote patient-centred healthcare. He believes that personal stories are the core of community building. In addition to being Reader in Residence for the Literacy Partners of Manitoba, he also teaches workshops in high schools: memoir workshops to English students and bioethics workshops to science students. He speaks about wellness and personal wholeness to cancer patients, care givers, medical people, and community groups.

In addition to promoting his most recent book,(2014, Prompters to Life), Dennis is currently writing a nonfiction book loosely based on his Italian family history, and is writing his first work of fiction, a thriller about fear and fearlessness. More information about Dennis and his many projects is available on his website, http://dennismaione.com. To purchase, inquire at your local book store or buy it online. Paper copies are available at http://prompterstolife.com/shoppers and the eBook is available at http://payhip.com/prompterstolife.